VW GTI Ads

VW has some interesting and funny GTI ads at the moment. Watch them here.

The invocation of ‘engineering’ (in this case ‘German’ engineering no less) against some kind of ‘pimp my ride’ aesthetic or style is typical of enthusiast car cultures. So my question is quite simple: Why isn’t ‘German engineering’ considered a particular aesthetic?

They come on the tail end of these other (somewhat bizarre) GTI ads, which tap into the particular affective relation (‘speed’) to automobile technology organised around non-human affects (‘fast’).

aha! nice observation! I shall have to totally steal that one for some not-yet-thought-of article that i am sure i will have to write. actually it may be useful to think about assemblages similar to those in modified-car culture by not involving ‘car enthusiasts’. here it is the 90210 assemblage for snooty inc or sommink.